Godliness

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 7/22/18

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Scripture Reading: Matthew 5: 17-26

^NIV Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. ²¹ "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. ²³ "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

A young Jewish boy was invited in with his father for a special prayer. Each man had their tallit’s over their heads and was in prayer. He was told not to look for the light of the deity was so strong that it would damage their eyes if they saw it. He tried not to look but being a young boy he could not help it. He saw his father and the other men holding their hands a certain way. Later he asked what it meant. His father said it represented the letter shin, the first letter of important Hebrew words like Shaddai, for God, Shalom, for hello, goodbye and peace and Shekhinah, which he said represented the feminine aspect of God who lives among us. The Shekhinah is also the name of the prayer his father and the others were participating in and in meant to bless those around them. Years later, this young boy, now a grown man was part of a production that became famous. In one of the scenes he was to meet others like him and he felt there needed to be something special about that moment so he offered the symbol. It worked so well that it became a pop culture thing. The symbol I am now demonstrating means a blessing to you all. The actor of course was Leonard Nimoy and he recounts that the humor of it all is that people the world over are offering each other a special blessing each time they do it and they don’t even know it. So go and be blessed today.

Today I want to talk with us about godliness. What does it mean to be like God but not God? How do we imitate God in the world without believing that we are God or think we are becoming God? We are not God. God is infinitely bigger than anything we can imagine, anything we can envision and is beyond our comprehension. Yet, God wants us to be in relationship with God. That desire creates a wonderful opportunity to share love with God and one another. It is in that sharing that we have a unique and incredible opportunity. Paul writes in his letter to the Roman people that we are to stop our sinning ways as we learn to walk with God in an awesome relationship that God provides for us.

God began that relationship before we even knew our first breath and continues that relationship every moment of our lives. In Wesleyan understanding, we call that prevenient grace, the grace of God that desires us to be in relationship with God. God starts that out by loving us unconditionally. I remember a story once between two infants. The one asks the other if they remember. Remember what the other asks. Do you remember before we were born and the angels and God? I am beginning to forget the other said and it saddens me. I remember as a young child at being amazed at the world around me. I was certain, most likely, because I was brought up in the church, that there is a God and that love surrounds me. I still feel God’s presence every time I see a sunrise and a sunset or a hummingbird.

I went on vacation this week and we had a great time. I remember telling Bonnie at one point, let us not be the preacher and spouse but just two people on vacation. Let us enjoy the moments we have and not think about each of you, the church and well, for a moment be normal. Funny how God reminds us all that we have a purpose. We were standing before a bluegrass string band and they were wonderful. I remarked after the finished how much I enjoyed their playing when the guitar player asked to speak with me. Over the next twenty minutes he opened his heart, struggling with his sister being gay, the disagreement with the church, the struggle with why God would not heal him and make him rich with all this talent he had and so on. We prayed together. I believe that it was meant to remind me that when we are the light of Christ even we are trying to blend in, God shines through us.

God loves us so much that God sent Jesus into the world so that we could see what that love looks like, how it walks and talks and how it interacts with the world. From that, we are supposed to learn how we should interact with the world. God gives us this awesome promise of immortality, life never ending, and life eternal in a place where joy and celebration surround us every moment of every day. Somehow we try to avoid that or believe we have enough time to make those decisions later or even believe that somehow it can’t be real or right. Our salvation is that moment when we finally accept that God is real and that God’s love is our own to have. It is another awesome moment given to us just because.  

Jesus said for us to go and be perfect. That means that Jesus believed that we could in fact live lives as close to perfection as possible. What that means is that we can imitate God in living our lives. God wants us to live Godly lives. Which simply means that we first love God and trust that God is going to lead us. We spend our lives praying, reading the Bible and being with others who share in God-like devotion so that we can discern the message God wants us to know.

We then go out into the world and show kindness, gentleness, warmth, hope and love. We share with those we love and those we do not know so that they then can experience God’s majesty and grace. If we trust God enough, we can overcome adversity and obstacles with the power of the Holy Spirit. Think about for a moment what the early disciples faced as obstacles to bringing the message of Jesus. Yet, they prevailed so much so that we are here today. Can we do any less?

Jesus tells us that we have to live our lives in radical behavior from the world. The world says if we murder someone, we are sinful and must be brought to justice. Jesus says if we hate someone or are angry at someone then we are in a sinful place and must change our hearts. It is not enough to do an act of violence but to have it in your heart where it smolders into anger and hate. If we desire to live godly lives then we must find ways to let things go. I am not suggesting we allow people to trample over us but Godly behavior demands that do the right thing at every opportunity.

God wants us to go into the world and be God like. The first thing we need to remember is that we are supposed to bring hope and love into the world. We are supposed to nurture one another, find ways to bring a spark of light into the world around us especially for those who may be a dark place today. We are supposed to be the seasoning that brings joy to the world. Finally, we are supposed to love the world and want to bring people into salvation. If we use Jesus as the model of behavior, He went to the cross to save you and me.  Jesus gave it all and the most important thing on His mind was not Himself, but you and I. I believe with all my heart that Jesus wants us to do the same.

I want to leave you with this thought. A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I could not quite make up my mind because there were so many. "The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:"
1. To See  

2. To Hear  

3. To Touch  

4. To Taste  

5. To Feel  

6. To Laugh  

7. To Love
The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Maybe like the young girl, we need to see the Seven Wonders of the World as the character of who we are when we share hope and love.